The former No. 3 pick in 2008 endured eight surgeries in the last 15 years, making basketball a continual grind.

In an essay for the Players Tribune, Wiggins wrote that she lost her love for the game in 2011:

I can’t explain how much respect I have for the women who play 11 months out of the year for a decade or more. You rarely see your family, and if you don’t take impeccable care of your body, you’re done.

I’ve been there, lived that.

For many, many years, I was in love with the game of basketball. I’m just not anymore.

And that’s O.K.

If I’m honest with myself, it’s been that way since 2011. I haven’t been playing professional basketball out of my own love, but instead, that of my fans, and all those who’ve supported me throughout a trying career.